The fashion industry is a fickle and ever-changing industry. Generally, there exists an incentive to introduce new trends in fashion, whether as stand-alone objects or items to adorn and decorate existing articles in new, innovative, and attractive ways. Over the years, several such devices have been created, propagated and imitated, including rings, bracelets, necklaces, brooches, clips, pins, shoe clips, etc. However, to outfit various articles of clothing one would have to acquire a number of different ornamental devices to accommodate each individual article. To date, a single set of devices which allow for the ornamental decoration of a variety of various articles including male, female, child, and animal apparel, accessories such as shoes and handbags, beauty objects, and home and entertaining design articles does not yet exist.
In addition to multiple objectives of the present invention, one of the primary objectives of the present invention is to provide a clip capable of adorning footwear. Such clips must be comfortable and generally non-intrusive to wearer. Focusing on this specific application of items capable of attaching to shoes, it is apparent that existing shoe devices fail in many regards. First, existing shoe ornament devices provide ineffective securing mechanisms for integrating the clips with footwear. Further, existing shoe ornament designs provide no level of comfort for the wearer as many securing mechanisms generally exhibit protruding portions which interfere with the comfort of the shoe and often create abrasions on the top portion of a user's foot due to the rubbing of the device on the user's foot. In addition, modern shoe ornament devices are generally manufactured for use by children, exhibiting inexpensive materials, adolescent favored designs, and are geared toward use with common tennis shoes or resin-based shoes. For example, one of the most common and well recognized fashion shoes of current seasons are commonly known as Crocs™. Crocs™ are primarily resin-based shoes manufactured with generally circular apertures which provide a comfortable and waterproof wearable item generally directed for use by adolescents. Crocs™ are often further adorned with articles commonly known as Jibbitz™. Jibbitz™ are ornamental items designed to be removably secured within the circular apertures of the Crocs™ with an upper portion exhibiting a design and a lower portion consisting of a “mushroom” base for inserting the item therein and resisting movement in the upper portion absent substantial force. However, these designs substantially move in place and are designed for a singular application with the Crocs™ and are not designed for a myriad of uses. Further, these “mushroom” portions protrude through the roof and the shoe housing interfering with the upper portion of a user's foot. Thus, there exists a need for a device that can be utilized as an ornamental decoration for a shoe that is designed for a myriad of uses. Further, the desired device must include an efficient and easily manufactured secure attachment system which does not interfere with the comfort of the shoe.
Few references are available from the United States Patent and Trademark Office which attempt to address the need for a shoe ornament device that provides increased comfort and enhanced securing mechanisms which limit the interaction with a user's foot. References directed to such shoe ornament devices generally relate to the use of various clips to attach external objects to a shoe. For example, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has reviewed patent applications purporting to provide solutions for (1) attaching an article to the laces of a shoe, (2) attaching a pant cuff to a shoe, and (3) attaching two shoes together to prevent theft, however, these systems have different objectives and exhibit many limitations, as each fails to provide an integrated system for decorating various articles of clothing or accessories. Further, the references fail to disclose a shoe ornament device capable of providing a comfortable assembly which does not interfere with the normal wear of the shoe.
A first reference, depicted in FIG. 1 (PRIOR ART) entitled “Shoe Clip” to Rooney et al. U.S. Pat. No. 7,152,286 is directed to a shoe clip for attaching a device to the laces of a shoe. More specifically, the attachment of such items as “coins, keys, identification race chips, computational devices and/or electronic devices” to the laces of a shoe would reliever the wearer from carrying the item in his or her pocket. It follows that an obvious object in the Rooney et al. disclosure is to purport to provide a simple, practical method of carrying small items in a container attached to the laces of a shoe. Like most prior shoe clips designed as simple shoe lace tie-ins with lace holes, the Rooney et al. device is comprised of a clipping mechanism capable of attaching only to shoe laces of a common tennis shoe or the like. Further, the Rooney et al. device merely overcomes the requirement of most prior art devices that the laces must be removed from the shoe and integrated with the laces before being replaced into the shoe eyelets. It will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that Rooney et al. does not address the desired functionalities apparent with respect to the disclosure of the present invention.
Similarly, numerous well-known devices related to shoes are merely designed to hold a shoe lace at or around the knot to further allow a user to complete lacing a shoe. For example, Comp U.S. Pat. No. 754,851 entitled “Shoe Lace Holder” is directed an “improved shoe-lace holder for securing the knotted portion of a shoe-lace or other similar article when the same is tied or bowed.” Importantly, in order for the Comp device to be employed, thereby securing the knot, a long portion of the device must extend and interact with a series of notches for closing the device. As a result, one of the disadvantages of the Comp system is that the aforementioned long portion must be of a specific dimension to reach beyond the lace and lock thereto. Thus, no portion of the lace must interfere with the locking mechanism. Clearly, this type of device can not be utilized on shoes that lack shoe laces, on accessories such as purses, or on home design devices such as vases, baskets, etc.
Turning to another shoe lace retaining device, Maxwell et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,290,745, entitled “Shoe Lace Clasp,” discloses a shoe lace device adapted to secure portions of a shoe lace to avoid the necessity of tying the laces as in a loop form. Specifically the Maxwell et al. invention is designed to allow a user to merely slip on a shoe and clasp the laces together in one easy step. Numerous adaptations of this system are apparent in present day shoe manufacture. However, this device, and its progeny (such as Meier U.S. Pat. No. 3,473,198 entitled “Shoe Tie Retainer” and Anderson U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,437 entitled “Shoelace Knot Retaining Apparatus”), are merely designed to link to the laces of a shoe and avoid the tying of a shoe by a user and is not geared to improved ornamental clips for adhering to myriad of products thereby improving the aesthetic of the products.
Turning to a clothing-related system, Carter U.S. Pat. No. 7,086,123 discloses a “Cuff Clip Jewelry Device” for preventing the cuff of a baggy pant leg from dropping below the heel of a shoe and being dragged on the ground. The Carter disclosure clearly recognizes that an ornamental device for attachment to various articles of clothing is desirable; however, the Carter disclosure, as depicted in FIG. 2 (PRIOR ART), is drawn merely to a single use. Specifically, Carter discloses the use of a decorative charm having a U-shaped shoe clip for attaching one end of the decorative charm to a shoe. The other end of the decorative charm of the Carter device is attached to the cuff of a baggy pant leg. As a result, the Carter disclosure offers a unique decorative solution to the problem of a baggy pant leg dragging along the ground. However, the apparatus disclosed by Carter is directed to a single use/single application and does not offer a plurality of uses for the decorative charm. In addition, the Carter apparatus is merely directed to a system for preventing damage to a pant leg and the disclosure fails to address the comfort level experienced by a user.
Simpson U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,874 discloses a clip apparatus for use with a clothing accessory product. Specifically, Simpson is directed to an “Implement Holder Attached to a Hat or Cap.” In short, this disclosure is primarily directed to providing a pen or pencil u-shaped cradle affixed to the lower portion proximal the edge of a cap. It is further disclosed that a similar apparatus may be designed to affix to a pair of eyeglasses or sunglasses. Clearly the Simpson device is limited to its specific stated purpose.
Turning to another application, a visor clip is disclosed in Miles U.S. Pat. No. 6,477,744. The clip disclosed by Miles is designed to sustain substantial vibrations due to the mobility of a vehicle when attached to a vehicle sun visor and includes a series of clips for holding a series of items such as a writing implement (e.g., a pencil). Again this device is merely limited to its intended purpose and is not designed for a myriad of uses.
Thus it is apparent that various clips have been used for many years to hold or grip a variety of items on a second item or structure and an almost infinite number of examples of items connected together by clips over a period of centuries can be found. While numerous other designs of clips geared for specific uses are well-known in the art, it is evident that a need exists for an apparatus capable of removably attaching to various articles of clothing whereby a single system of ornamental items can be utilized to decorate a plurality of articles. In addition, a need exists for an ornamental shoe clip apparatus to decorate a pair of shoes and increase the comfort of the wearer. Further, there exists a need in the art to provide a single securing apparatus which a user may attach to various objects including fashion accessories, home design accessories, pet products and accessories, beauty objects, or any other device which exhibits an area suitable for affixing an ornamental clip thereto.